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| 'I'm with her': Barack Obama endorses Hillary Clinton for president | 'I'm with her': Barack Obama endorses Hillary Clinton for president |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Barack Obama has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, releasing a video in which he said: “I’m with her.” | Barack Obama has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, releasing a video in which he said: “I’m with her.” |
| “I don’t think there has ever been someone so qualified to hold this office,” the president said. | “I don’t think there has ever been someone so qualified to hold this office,” the president said. |
| “She’s got the courage, the compassion, and the heart to get the job done ... I have seen her judgment. I’ve seen her toughness. I’ve seen her commitment to our values up close. And I’ve seen her determination to give every American a fair shot at opportunity, no matter how tough the fight – that’s what’s always driven her, and still does.” | “She’s got the courage, the compassion, and the heart to get the job done ... I have seen her judgment. I’ve seen her toughness. I’ve seen her commitment to our values up close. And I’ve seen her determination to give every American a fair shot at opportunity, no matter how tough the fight – that’s what’s always driven her, and still does.” |
| He added: “I am fired up and I cannot wait to get out there and campaign for Hillary.” | He added: “I am fired up and I cannot wait to get out there and campaign for Hillary.” |
| Clinton responded to the president’s statement on Twitter: | Clinton responded to the president’s statement on Twitter: |
| Honored to have you with me, @POTUS. I'm fired up and ready to go! -H | Honored to have you with me, @POTUS. I'm fired up and ready to go! -H |
| Obama released the video message following a White House meeting with Bernie Sanders, who pledged to work with Clinton to help her defeat Donald Trump in November’s general election. | Obama released the video message following a White House meeting with Bernie Sanders, who pledged to work with Clinton to help her defeat Donald Trump in November’s general election. |
| Speaking to reporters after what appeared to be a warm meeting with the president in the Oval Office, Sanders vowed to compete in the last primary election in Washington DC next week and push his agenda at the party’s convention in July, but made clear he would soon be ready to endorse his rival as the presidential nominee. | |
| “I spoke briefly to Secretary Clinton on Tuesday night and I congratulated her on her very strong campaign,” the Vermont senator said in prepared remarks outside the White House. “I look forward to meeting with her in the near future to see how we can work together to defeat Donald Trump and to create a government that represents all of us and not just the 1%.” | |
| There were concessions to some of his supporters, who remain angry about aspects of the primary process, including a suggestion that Tuesday’s primary election in California had overstated the size of Clinton’s victory. | |
| “I look forward to the full counting of the votes in California which I suspect will show a much closer vote than the current vote tally,” said Sanders, who noted he also would “of course be competing in the DC primary” next Tuesday. | “I look forward to the full counting of the votes in California which I suspect will show a much closer vote than the current vote tally,” said Sanders, who noted he also would “of course be competing in the DC primary” next Tuesday. |
| But Sanders pointedly thanked Obama and vice-president Joe Biden for the “degree of impartiality they established” during the primary, and made no mention of his previous aim to convert Clinton-supporting superdelegates. | |
| “They said in the beginning that they would not put their thumb on the scales and they kept their word and I appreciate that very, very much,” said Sanders, who has been highly critical of other party leaders. | |
| Though declining to take questions from reporters, Sanders appeared to show evidence of a campaign coming to terms with its election defeat but eager to take full advantage of the phenomenal support it has demonstrated for previously neglected issues. | Though declining to take questions from reporters, Sanders appeared to show evidence of a campaign coming to terms with its election defeat but eager to take full advantage of the phenomenal support it has demonstrated for previously neglected issues. |
| “Our campaign has been about building a movement which brings working people and young people into the political process,” Sanders told the dozens of reporters and presidential staff watching from nearby offices after one of the most eagerly awaited White House meetings in recent years. | |
| “[We want] to create a government that represents all of us and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors. We will continue to do everything we can to oppose the drift that currently exists towards an oligarchic form of society in which a handful of billionaires exercise enormous power over our political, economic and media life,” he added. | “[We want] to create a government that represents all of us and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors. We will continue to do everything we can to oppose the drift that currently exists towards an oligarchic form of society in which a handful of billionaires exercise enormous power over our political, economic and media life,” he added. |
| Sanders’ aides, who have been meeting at his Vermont headquarters over the last 24 hours, say he has a firm list of objectives that he wishes to see put on the platform during the convention in Philadelphia. | Sanders’ aides, who have been meeting at his Vermont headquarters over the last 24 hours, say he has a firm list of objectives that he wishes to see put on the platform during the convention in Philadelphia. |
| “These are some of the issues that many, many millions of Americans have supported during my campaign. These are the issues that we will take the Democratic national convention in Philadelphia at the end of July,” the senator said on Thursday. | “These are some of the issues that many, many millions of Americans have supported during my campaign. These are the issues that we will take the Democratic national convention in Philadelphia at the end of July,” the senator said on Thursday. |
| Sanders is due to host a rally in Washington later this evening, in which he said he would campaign for the District of Columbia to receive full statehood rights, but he also stressed that the key challenge for Democrats now was uniting to make sure they won the presidential election. | Sanders is due to host a rally in Washington later this evening, in which he said he would campaign for the District of Columbia to receive full statehood rights, but he also stressed that the key challenge for Democrats now was uniting to make sure they won the presidential election. |
| “Donald Trump would clearly to my mind, and I think the majority of Americans, be a disaster as president of the United States,” said Sanders. | “Donald Trump would clearly to my mind, and I think the majority of Americans, be a disaster as president of the United States,” said Sanders. |
| “It is unbelievable to me that the Republican party would have a candidate for president who in the year 2016 makes bigotry and discrimination the cornerstone of his campaign.” | “It is unbelievable to me that the Republican party would have a candidate for president who in the year 2016 makes bigotry and discrimination the cornerstone of his campaign.” |
| Earlier, Sanders and Obama appeared at ease in each other’s company, slapping backs as they strolled down the White House colonnade to the Oval office, five months after a similar meeting before the Iowa primary appeared to give presidential blessing to a vigorously contested campaign. | |
| In a Wednesday night appearance on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Obama said he was eager to enter the fray more actively now that the primary was drawing to a close. | |
| “The main role I am going to be playing in this process is to remind people that this is a serious job, not reality TV,” said. | |
| Asked if Sanders would eventually endorse Clinton too, the president added: “I am sure they are gong to have a conversation.” | Asked if Sanders would eventually endorse Clinton too, the president added: “I am sure they are gong to have a conversation.” |